By Fergal MacErlean • Published: 22 Apr 2022 • 10:29
Electron micrograph of a cell heavily infected with SARS-COV-2 virus particles (in yellow). Credit: NIAID, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0
A patient treated at a London hospital had the virus for more than 16 months, or 505 days, in total, the BBC reports on Friday, April 22.
The unnamed individual had underlying medical conditions and died in hospital in 2021.
After catching Covid in early 2020 the patient attended hospital, for both routine checks and care, approximately fifty times.
On each occasion they tested positive for the virus.
The doctors, from King’s College London and Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, say lab analysis revealed it was the same, persistent infection.
It is essential that such chronic infections are studied to improve our understanding of Covid and the risks it can pose, experts say.
Dr Luke Blagdon Snell told the BBC: “The virus is still adapting to the human host when people are infected for a long time. It might provide an opportunity for Covid to accrue new mutations.
“Some of these patients that we have studied have mutations that have been seen in some of the variants of concern.”
Dr David Strain from the University of Exeter Medical School, told the broadcaster: “We know that every time the virus replicates, it must reproduce its RNA – equivalent to manually copying a textbook.
“We know if we were to transcribe an entire book we would make mistakes, so too does the virus. Every copy will produce mutations.
“Although Omicron did not arise in these particular individuals, this demonstrates a very clear pathway by which vaccine-resistant variants may arise.
“Whereas with BA.2 we have got lucky, that the mutation is associated with a less severe illness, there is no guarantee that the next iteration will be the same.”
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Originally from Dublin, Fergal is based on the eastern Costa del Sol and is a web reporter for The Euro Weekly News covering international and Spanish national news. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com.
The most important statement within the entire story…”The unnamed individual had underlying medical conditions and died in hospital in 2021″ meaning although the person allegedly tested positive for COVID for 505 days the person actually died of underlying medical conditions which are unnamed. No information as to how the patient was being treated, was there early treatment etc. Countless cases in places like India were cured by hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin when given early on in the sickness. Obviously this person didn’t get effective early treatment.
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